Nalu Week 2015
by Lollilollicandypop
Summary: Day 1: Wander. She hated it that she was cold. That she was alone.
1. Chapter 1

**Modern AU (popular\nerd) Every nalu author has one,so might as well.**

 **This is my submission for Nalu week: Bonus**

 **It's one in the morning and I really need to get some sleep.**

 **So. Rev... rev... review.. (Yawn)**

* * *

It wasn't his fault, really.

He sighs dreamily, as he watches her tuck a stray of blonde hair behind her ear, her nose scrunching up in the most adorable way possible as her eyes flew across the page, oblivious to the wanton stares he had been throwing her since the past hour. How could anyone really take their eyes off her? He honestly didn't know. Because he knows _he_ couldn't. Not when she smiles that pretty pretty smile of hers, as if nothing was wrong in the world.

There was a just a peculiar spark in her that made the others grow dim in his eyes. SO, yeah. It wasn't his fault he fell for a girl that would never really take him seriously. Being together with her was only a dream he could never really make into a reality since their worlds will never truly collide. She was simply _this_ , and he was simply just _that_.

Natsu Dragneel could only look as she finally shuts her book, place it gently on her backpack and walk away without so much as a single clue.

"Hey, Dragneel! You are so dead." Natsu groans, shifting to his side to face his rival, Gray Fullbuster, clad in his football pads, sweating like hell.

"I'm not in the mood, iceprick." He says, shifting his eyes to where Lucy Heartflia had previously been.

"What's got your panties in a twist?" He begins, but shrugs it off instantly. "Anyway, coach is gonna kill you. What kind of quarter back misses practice before the games?"

"A great one, so shut your trap and go." He really wasn't in the mood for practice. Not when he was wallowing in self pity.

"What's your problem, flame brain? You've been like this for weeks!" Gray says, taking a seat beside him. "You're gonna drag the team with you."

"It's not like we lose or anything." He mumbles distractedly, his eyes catching sight of an object. Wait... Is that what he thinks it is?

"Look, if something's bothering you, you could, uh, tell someone about it, you know." Gray mumbles awkwardly. "Hey, where you goin' bastard!?"

Ignoring the man, he makes his way to the pink notebook lying on the ground, a cute lettering of _Lucy Heartfilia_ in the cover. His lips quirks quickly into a smile as he picks up the girly object. Was this a sign?

"Hey, don't walk away when I'm- wait, what's that?" The raven haired man says, peering over his shoulder. "Lucy Heartfilia? Isn't she the blonde nerd with big glasses, braces and everything?"

Growling from the description, he clutches the notebook tighter. "Don't talk about her like that, droopy eyes! And she got rid of her braces two weeks ago!"

Raising a brow at the pink haired jock, Gray eyed the pink note and back to him. "Wait... Do you know her or somethin'?"

Much, and _much_ to his surprise, the jock blushed slightly. _What the heck?!Was he looking at the right guy?_ Natsu Dragneel don't _do_ blushing!

Quickly hiding it (although terribly failing) by turning his back on him and started walking away, Natsu only grumbled, his cheeks feeling hotter as his rival's jaw dropped to the ground. "I-It's nothin'. Tell coach I'll be there bright and early tomorrow."

Gray stood there for another hour, his jaw still slacked.

* * *

Natsu Dragneel grins excitedly, his head feels light as he walked through the crowded hallway, oblivious to the sultry giggling of girls as he passed by them and guys glimpsing at him in obvious envy. He didn't notice though, he never did. Not then, and especially not now, when his head was buzzing with one thought alone.

Finally! A chance to talk to her again!

Yes, _again_. He actually had the pleasure of talking to her twice. Both times, he had blew it off. He didn't see her the way he sees her now back then.

* * *

 _"Natsu Dragneel!" Her voice rang through the empty classroom, he and his friends had chosen to hangout in. His head turned, and then he saw her. And no, it wasn't love at first sight._

 _Blinking in confusion, he made his way to her, all the while taking in her appearance. She wore big glasses, braces in her teeth, hair held by a pink ponytail, holding a book to her chest._

 _"Uhh..." He starts, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Do you need anything?"_

 _Her lips twiched, and he almost wanted to laugh as she tried her best to retain her stoic look. "Yes." She says firmly as she presses a piece of paper into him._

 _"Ooooh! Natsu's got a love letter!" Gray teased behind him. 'Wait till I get this over with, ice prick!'_

 _"Another one? Where did we stock the others again?" Gajeel mumbles, lying on two joined seats._

 _"Oh, my! How sweet!" His eyes twitched at Mira. Seriously, this kind of stuff happens really often._

 _Turning his attention back at the girl, he curses silently under his breath. Making girls cry when he rejects them doesn't really sit well with him. But he just doesn't believe in this stuff. Leading them will only make things worse._

 _"Look, sorry miss, you look like a great person and all but I'm not really intrested in dating and-"_

 _His eyes widen when she begins laughing. Her hand covering her lips as she tries to muffle the sound. Her brown eyes hidden in glee as she rode her laughter._

 _Uh... Was it something that he said?_

 _"Dating... pfft!" More somber by now, the blonde looked at him._

 _"Natsu Dragneel, if you just read the paper you would understand that, "She says, gesturing to the 'love letter' "it's a letter from the book club asking the football club to lend us funds for the damages last week when a football came crashing by our window and you happened to be on sight."_

 _He stared blankly at her, ignoring the guffaws behind him._

 _She smiled prettily at him then. "If you could just be kind enough to pass the note to Mr. Dreyar, we would be really grateful." Turning her back, he heard her giggle again, watching as her back she turns into the corner, out of sight._

 _It felt like he got rejected._

* * *

Starting then, his eyes would stray to her when he walks by her and her blue haired companion. But he didn't really stare at her like he did now. Only spare glances. When he sees her among the crowd only one thought went to his head.

"She's weird."

* * *

 _The second time he talked to her, he felt like crying._

 _He wasn't even at school then. He was at a convinience store, his cup noodles and canned beef had run out, and it didn't matter if it was almost midnight, he'd be damned if he didn't have that spicy seafood noodles for breakfast tomorrow._

 _Stalking out of the glass doors, he'd been geniually surprised when he found Happy, his cat, waiting for him right outside the store._

 _He crouched on his knee, petting the cat. "I didn't know you followed me here, buddy."_

 _Happy purred, leaning into his touch, until he felt the animal tense, sharply turning his head on the other side of road behind him and ran swiftly. Natsu didn't even notice he was gone before he heard a a loud honk of a car followed by screeching noise of tires._

 _Natsu's stomach dropped. What the fuck just happened?_

 _He was on his feet sprinting towards the road before he even commanded it to. The sight of a white car mysteriously shifted and angry tire tracks on the road chilled him._

 _'Please tell me they didn't hit him!'_

 _An obviously drunk dude came out of the car, cursing when he saw what he saw on the other side of the vehicle ( the one hidden from Natsu's view) quickly turned back to his car and sped off._

 _"Get back here, bastard!" He yelled his lungs out. Cursing heavily, he turned his head back to the side, wishing the heavens above that it wasn't his pet that got hit._

 _His eyes widened when he saw a tuff of blonde hair and a very familiar pair of glasses on the ground._

 _"Luigi!" He cried, quickly going to her side, shaking her slightly. "Hey! Wake up!"_

 _Shit, she's got blood on her head. It wasn't much though, maybe just a graze._

 _A 'meow' snapped him out of his nervous breakdown. Casting his eyes from her, he saw Happy coming out of her arms that held him possessively._

 _Did this mean she-_

 _"What happened?" His head snapped back to her, shoulders shagging in relief. Her eyes squinted. "Where's my glasses?"_

 _He hurriedly scuffled through the ground until his hand finally found her glasses._

 _"Here." He gently put her glasses back to her eyes._

 _She shifts into a sitting position, while he supported her into leaning on a pole._

 _"Dragneel? What are you doing here?" Eyes widening as a thought struck her she forgot about her question and got to her feet instantly. "The cat! Where is he? Did I make it on time?"_

 _"He's safe." Natsu confirms, gathering Happy in his arms to show her. Natsu's heart warmed when he saw her sigh in relief._

 _"I'm glad." She says, putting a hand on her chest. He got lost in her serene smile for a moment before it got replaced by a frown. "Where was the car anyway? The one that almost got us hit?"_

 _Growling at the memory of the man hurrying in the confines of his vehicle, he glanced where the car had sped off to._

 _"The drunk bastard ran off." He shifted his eyes back to her. "Wait, your head? I thought you didn't get hit?"_

 _She gently winced when her hand came in contact with the wound. "This is nothing. I just ran into that pole when I tried to save the cat."_

 _"Thank you." Her head snapped back into him. "Happy's my cat. He's my only family. Thanks for saving him. I don't know what I would have done if you didn't come for him." The thought of losing Happy shook him deep. He was his only family, being an orphan and being abandoned by his adopted father soon after, his fear of losing anyone he had tied bonds with ran deep._

 _"He's yours?" He nodded. She looked at Happy and then to him, and smiled warmly. Why did it feel like it burned? "It makes me happier for a reason."_

 _"Thanks."_

 _She only smiled._

* * *

Her smile, her brown brown eyes boring into his haunted him both day and night. And he had to actively stop himself from thinking about her. He reasoned it was only because she had saved his pet that made him think of her as much. That was the only reason. Yeah.

They didn't become friends. Even with the car incident. For some reason, he was nervous to talk to her. He didn't know why. All they shared is the casual nods and that was it.

Weeks passed and even that stopped. She would pass by him, and she wouldn't even notice he was there. He was jealous of the bookworm she was always with (Leny or something). Apparently, she forgot about the accident, yet it changed him forever.

He just couldn't stop thinking of how nice she was, how heroic she is, then later, how intelligent and pretty she is added to the group. Lucy Heartfilia had attracted him like a moth to a flame. But he denies that he was what they call 'whipped'. Because he isn't. He just knows the facts about her nobody really bothered with.

But there was this incidence that snapped him out of his brick wall.

* * *

 _He was tired. He would admit that. Full day of practice followed by the declaration of tests for the following day drained him both physically and mentally. He couldn't afford to fail (even if he is heading diligently into that direction) ! He wouldn't be able to play!_

 _Damn he was tired. But he knew he had to hit the books later._

 _Darn it!_

 _He was on his way to the main building, it was late, so he knew the school would be practically empty by now. So it made him curious when he heard a smashing noise just behind the corner, right behind the school._

 _Beaten by curiosity, he walked right through the said corner._

 _A group of senior girls's backs greeted him, and he almost went back to his own business (It was just a cat fight) until he heard a very familiar voice ringing defiantly into the air._

 _"Do not talk dirty about Levy-chan!" Instantly, his body snapped back into the corner, processing what was happening. A group of girls, now he noticed are cheerleaders, stood in front of her and a short blunette who was holding onto the blonde's arm._

 _Really, was this girl a magnet for trouble?_

 _"Lu-chan, it's okay. I'm okay." He hears Levy speak._

 _The girls snickered. " Yeah, Lu-chan. The shrimp's okay. It's not like her locker would be filled with mustard tomorrow."_

 _"Oh, really?" She says sweetly. What was she up to now? "It's not like I'll tell your boyfriend you had been cheating with him with Loke..."_

 _Gasping, but quickly recovering, the senior smirked darkly at her. "You have no proof."_

 _"Actually..." The blonde smiles widely as she flips her phone with a picture of said cheating on it. "I know Loke from waaay back. And I think he would also testify for me if your boyfriend didn't believe me."_

 _"Youu-"_

 _"Oh, I wonder what would happen if i accidently pushed this button when you attack us. It's not like I have everyone's email, since I'm only a student council or anything." She grins sickly sweet, "Oh, and by the way, Loke says you're his girl number six."_

 _Nearing into tears, the cheerleader only sniffed indignantly. "You're gonna pay for this, nerd!"_

 _Nearly passing out from holding his laughter back, Natsu walked away from the corner._

 _She sure knows how to make his day go round._

 _Seeing her spark motivated him so much and he was sure by the end of the exchange he was thinking;_

 _'Man, I want her.'_

* * *

Steeling his nerves, he walked into her haven: the library.

Whoa, so this is what it's like in here.

This time, he felt the surprised stares every student of every table he had passed. His eye twiched. Were these people expecting him to melt?

His irritation faded when he caught sight of her. Though, he was expecting her to be lost in her books. This time, she was leaning onto the table, her mouth forming words, gaining nods from the student beside her. Oh, she was tutoring.

Scowling at the smile she had shot the boy beside her, he made his way to their table. He cleared his throat, hoping to gain their attention. It frustrated him that the only person he wanted to look at him was also the person that wouldn't.

"Uh, Lucy-chan..." The boy spoke, "I think someone wanted to speak to you."

This time he wanted to pat the guy's back. Finally!

"Hm?" She hums, eyes lingering on the page before turning to him. He half expected her to be surprised. Even though many people called him dense, he knew he was popular. "Oh, Natsu? What can I do for you?"

Well, that was a bust.

"Uhh..." He gulps nervously, this was finally it! And he was a coward, darn it. "I-I found this on the ground, and I though maybe it was yours since you know, it's got your name on it and everything and I thought maybe I should return it 'cause you might need it for something, or maybe you don't since it was on the ground but I thought maybe I should still return it so I... just. Here!"

He thrusts her notebook to her face. She only blinked at him, retrieving the notebook gently.

"Uh... thanks, I guess?" She says, mumbling 'weird' before turning her attention back into the book. "So as I was saying, you just multiply this-"

His shoulders drooped. He wouldn't deny the feeling of hope crashing to the ground. He wouldn't deny the feeling of shattering on his chest.

Natsu dragged his feet towards the door, catching one more glimpse on the blonde. He should've known better.

Darn, is this what they call heart break?

* * *

"Heads up, flame brain!" His body jolted when the feeling af the oblong shaped ball found its way to his hand. Riiight, they were on a game.

Adjusting his stance, Natsu ran, avoiding heavily armored bodies throwing itself at him. Just a little more...

"Touchdown!" Before he could process what was happening, he was lifted into the air as his teammates roared loudly.

His name echoed in the crowd and he felt a grin starting in his face when he heard them chant it louder. He heard it even when he disappeared into the lockers' room. Sighing as he plopped into a bench, he took his helmet off.

All those people... looking at him. Why coudn't she?! He knows he was being desperate. Over a girl. But he couldn't really help it. It was the first time he had wanted someone like this and it frustrated him to no end that she didn't even give him another glance when he returned her notebook. _Why?!_

The sound of scuffling on the door told him that the team finished bathing in glory.

"Natsu?" Wait... that can't be! his head turned to the door in a speed that would have broken his neck.

"Lucy..." he mumbled, she was right there! Just right there. With him. On the boy's locker room. Why?

"Uhm... hey. I know you just literally finished your game. But uh, Gray 'was that his name' told me you needed tutoring help for the test on Wednesday, and I don't have your contacts so, I just came to tell you that. Bye!"

What the- "Wait!"

Her hand paused as it gripped the door knob. "I uh- actually need help for tomorrow's test, too!" Lies. "And maybe we could head somewhere after I change?"

"But don't you have that victory party?" She cocks her head to the side slightly.

He shrugs casually. "I'd rather study."

"Oh, okay. See you at the library then?"

His eyes gleaming he grins at her. "Yeah. Just give me ten minutes."

She smiles back at him. "Okay," halting once more. "Oh, and thanks for returning my notebook last week. It was really important, thanks."

Without giving him the chance to reply, the blonde walked out of the room. It was so stupid, but he felt his face about to break. He really had to stop smiling.

" _I'd rather study_ , he says!" His head turns into the door, and his whole freaking team was sprawled to the ground laughing their asses off, Gray taking the lead. "Hear that guys! Natsu's in loooove!"

"Shut it, Droopy Eyes!" He yells at them in mock anger, but it serves to further goad more laughter.

"Go ahead, Natsu! It's not manly to be late for a date!" Elfman says, hovering on the door.

"D-date?!" Was this a date?! Darn, his face is gonna explode!

"Fahahaha! Man! This is gold!" Growling, but not quite losing his smile, he flashes his team the finger before taking his towel.

He was too happy to be mad right now.

Besides, he owes Gray big time.

* * *

"Did you get that, Natsu?"

"Huh?" He snaps, turning his head back into his Calculus book. He wouldn't be caught staring, dammit! "Oh, yeah. Just substitute this number to the limitations, right?"

She nods her head happily. And man it felt great that he was the one who makes her smile like that.

"Then, were done for today." Huh? He panics when she starts to clean up her things, shoving them into her bag. "You were a fast learner, so maybe you wouldn't need my help in some-"

"No!" He flushed at her startled face. "I mean, I only got to learn quickly since you taught me."

This time, she blushes. "D-don't say things like that..."

"It's true though." He grins at her. "You're really smart. Lucy."

Natsu watches in fascination as her cheeks burn darker.

"I-I have to go home. It's late." She says, standing up.

"I can walk you home." Her head turns to his, he casually shoves his hand into his pocket. "Since I was the reason you got home late."

"No, it's fine."

"I really don't have much to do, so might as well." He tells her, getting her backpack and slinging it onto his shoulder.

Her eyes quirks, "Okay."

The walk was silent.

It wasn't the comfortable silence either. He wanted to tell her so many things, and now that he had gotten his chance, he was zipping his mouth. What was wrong with him?

"So, how do you know Gray?" He starts. Begging high heavens to let it be something that would actually start something.

"Gray? Oh, the naked guy." He laughed at that. "I don't really know him. He just told me you needed tutoring and since I kind of owe you, I guess, why not?"

"Do you do it often? Tutoring?"

"I do it when someone comes to me for help, or if professors ask me to. I don't really have much to do on my free time than read, so yeah. I do it pretty often."

He raised a brow. "You _only_ read on your free time?"

Looking skeptically at him, she nodded. "Yeah, most of the time..."

"But wasn't your notebook filled with stories?"

He watches as color abandons her face, then flooding it the moment after.

"YOU READ MY STORY?!"

"It wasn't my fault I found it on the ground."

"STILL! IT'S NOT- IT'S NOT RIGHT TO GO READING PEOPLE'S STUFF!"

He laughs at her tomato colored face. He could get used to this.

"It's not like it's bad though. The invisible guy's story was-"

"Stop it!" She all but shoves her hand into his mouth as her cheeks burned brighter. "I don't want to hear th- EW! Did you just lick me?!"

"You were the one who put your hand in my mouth." He smirks.

"Don't say it like that!"

"Like what?"

"Like... argh! You're impossible!"

He grins as she walked ahead of him.

"Wait for me!"

* * *

It's been seven months since that fateful day. And he had never been the same. It was good though. She became his bestfiend. And him her.

Now, he could act casually around her. He could sling his arm on her shoulder, tease her about this and that. He was much much closer.

He grins as he spots her blonde hair, she was facing her locker, wearing gym clothes. She looks really good on it.

"Hey, Luce!" He started running towards her. Stopping beside her locker door, he watches as she scruffles through her locker, muttering a few light curses here and there. "Whatcha doin?"

"Urgh, Natsuu! I can't find my glasses!" She turns to him, and he finally sees her face. He didn't know those glasses made so much difference. She was pretty then, but now, she looked like a model!

"Wha- I- erm- did you look everywhere?" He says, trying to snap out of his trance.

"Yes! I knew exatly where I left it when I washed my face. But it just disappeared!" She says, hands flying in exasperation.

"Calm down, Luce." he soothes, gathering her in his arms. Yes. He can do this now, too. "Can you walk without it?"

"Yes, my eyes aren't really that bad. I was just comfortable with those. I feel like I lost my nose or something."

"What? So, those glasses were just for show?" She pouts cutely, muttering someting about him being an idiot and what if it was. "I think you look better without those on."

He feels her warm up against him. He smirks as he burries his head on her hair.

Unbeknownst to him, later that day, Levy knocked on her door, holding out her glasses and tells her how she found them beneath the sink and she should be more careful with her properties.

Lucy came to school without glasses the day after.

* * *

*Snores


	2. Day 1: Wander

**Day 1: Wander**

 **Set on chapter 417, Travelling alone II, when Natsu and Happy had run into Gildarts.**

 **This is mostly Lucy's side of things, and my theory why she had been somewhat bitter after Natsu's return , and my thoughts of why Natsu was perched on the edge of a cliff, staring into the sky when Gildarts found him.**

 **Kinda angsty.**

* * *

She had been wandering for hours. Where... she didn't even know.

The familiar path of cobble stone she had been walking on a few hours back were long since gone. And she was now stalking on an unknown ground. Her boots were now covered in mud and some stray leaves had stuck on her heels. But Lucy didn't care one bit... _couldn't_ care one bit.

They were gone. Her friends, her family... gone.

 _He_ was gone.

He _left_.

The remnants of tears had left a wet mark on her flushed skin, she didn't even know when it had stopped... or when it even started. But she still couldn't find it in her to care.

She just knows that there was still a path in front of her. Where to, she didn't know. But that wouldn't be the reason for her to stop.

Lucy had been travelling for months. Tried to put herself together, too. And for a time, she thought she had, that she was fine again... and that she could make it on her own.

But somewhere along the way, here she is again, wandering aimlessly, asking the stars again and again why it happened. Why Tartarus had happened, why Igneel happened, why Aquarius happened, and why Fairy Tail's end happened... And why a letter signed ' _ND'_ happened.

For the first time, she hated it, she hated that the stars merely blinked at her when she was so drowned in loneliness and hurt.

She hated it that she was _cold_. That she was alone.

 _We'll always be there for you, Lucy!_

The endearing sentence that had caused her heart to melt with so much affection back then now froze her with cold bitterness.

"Lies!" She cried, her watery voice echoing through the empty forest,making the nearby animals scatter. "All of it were lies!"

Before she knew it, her knees had given up on her, and Lucy fell on the ground.

She choked back a sob. Why is she always the one ending up alone, when she was the one so deperate for a home, when she was the one who had searched it her whole life?

Her anger and the feeling of betrayal blinded her as she sat herself upright, hiding her face on her knees as she cried. "I thought you were my home..."

 _Fairy Tail is your home now!_

"I believe in you..." She whispered, her body trembling, cold.

 _Ever since I joined the guild, I believed in you, Natsu_.

She did. But now as she sat alone and empty and lost in wonderland, her words seemed to flow with the breeze to somewhere far far away.

Her chest constricted as every sense of the word she always knew were true escaped her.

The wind blew, kissing her tear stained cheek as it went. Lucy paced up, the moon light illuminating her face as tears fell from her eyes.

"I _believed_ in you, Natsu."

And she _did_.

* * *

Natsu shuddered as the breeze caressed his warm skin. Consciousness crept its way into him as he opened his eyes, uncovering the beauty of glimmering stars and the round moon illuminating the forest. That was supposed to be the sight he should have seen but instead he saw Lucy.

Shuddering once more when the wind gave another cold blow, Natsu sat upright, igniting himself slightly to chase away the cold.

To his confusion, he _couldn't_.

He looked beside him to see Happy and Gildarts, whom they had run into earlier, sprawled on their places, drooling all over the grasses as Happy snored a word that very much sounded like 'Charle', Gildarts murmuring the name of his daughter every once in a while.

Natsu plopped himself back to his blanket again, his tired body drifting off once more into a peaceful slumber. Until;

 _"I believed in you, Natsu."_

His whole body shot upright a moment after, his eyes wide and all senses alert as he looked around him frantically only to find nothing about the source of her voice.

"Lucy?" He whispers to himself, almost wincing at the desperate tone he used.

After a moment silence with nothing but the sound of crickets and the assurance that she was indeed nowhere near, Natsu let his alarmed body to relax. He sighs and burried his face into his calloused hands, groaning silently. Mentally hitting himself for thinking she was there when he was the one who was thousands of miles away from Magnolia.

But the feeling of her voice tugged at his chest, it was as if she needed him. Looking up once again on the night's sky, Natsu ups himself on his feet, giving one last glance to his comrades before he began to wander off with nothing but the stars leading his way.

The forest was silent, save for the constant sound of dry leaves scrunchng under his shoes and the scattering of animals nearby here and there. Finding the edge of the mountain, Natsu plopped down, staring at the stars aimlessly. Natsu wasn't one to star gaze but the sight of stars blinking at him, he felt as if they were closer.

In his sleep strained mind, only one thought rang onto his head.

 _I believed in you, Natsu._

He didn't know why the statement rang repeatedly in his head, echoing in the deepest corners of his mind, but that wasn't really his concern.

It was the feeling that it is not what it was before anymore.

And it filled him with dread.

She had said those words to him during the games. She had said it to him with so much pride and affection that for the first time, he was left speechless. He felt warmth and comfort spread into his chest, devouring him completely.

But for some reason, as the same words ring to his head for reasons unknown to him, all he feels is shame and guilt. He tries to tamp it down with reasons, but it still tackles the fore front of his mind, leaving a bitter taste on his tongue.

His mind wanders back to the letter he had left her, wondering how she had reacted. He winced at the thought of her crying, the thought of her running out of her apartment in tears to chase them.

He hadn't really thought of what the guild, including Lucy, would think of his deparature. His thoughts were soley on Igneel's words, that he had to move forward, live for the future.

But now that he had a clearer mind and a feeling of home sickness, it all punches him to the face. But he couldn't bring himself to regret it. He knows he had to get stronger. For them. For his family. And if this pain tugging on his chest would be the prize, then so be it.

He stares back at the starry sky with determination burning in his eyes.

 _Lucy_

"Wait for me."


End file.
